Handle for caskets or coffins.



No. 686,280. Patented Nov I2 F. GAUDIN.

HANDLE FOR GASKETS 0R CDFFINS.

Application filed June B, 1901.)

(No Model.)

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I UNITED STATES FELIX GAUDIN, OF NE HANDLE FOR CAS W ORLEANS, LOUISIANA.

KET S OR COFFINS.'

SE'EGIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 686,280, dated November 12, 1901.

. Serial No. 63,753. (No model.)

To a whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FELIX GAUDIN, a citizen of the United States, residingat New Orleans, in the parish of Orleans and State of Louisiana, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Handles for Caskets or Coffins, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is an improved construction of handle for cofins or burial-caskets.

The object of the invention is to provide a handle by means of which the coffin or casket can be more easily manipulated than by means of the handles now in use.

The coffin-handles as usually constructed are hinged to the side of the coffin and swung upwardly to a horizontal position. This necessitates the presence of the bearer at the side of the coffin, and very often it becomes necessary to pass the coffin through a doorway which is not sufliciently wide to permit the passage of the coffin and the bearer on either side. The handling of the coffin on such occasions is very awkward; and the object of my invention, therefore, is to provide a coffin-handle which can be adjusted so that the bearers can arrange themselves at the ends of the cofin instead of the side when passing through a doorway or narrow space.

\Vith this object in view the invention consists, essentially, in constructing a handle essentially in the form of a T, the head being pivoted vertically, thereby permitting the body of the handle to swing horizontally; and the invention consists also in providing the body of the handle with an extensible section whereby its length can be increased or diminished, as desired.

The invention consists also in certain details of construction and novelties of combination, all of which will be fully described hereinafter, and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a coffin or casket provided with my improved handles, said handles being turned to aposition for lifting the-coflin from the ends, as is often required when passing through a narrow doorway or passage. Fig. 2 is a detail perspective view of the handle constructed in accordance with my invention, the extension member of the handle being projected outwardly to its full extent. Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view illustrating the manner of pivoting the handle. Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view illustrating the manner of connecting the body of the handle and the extension member. Fig. 5 shows a slightly-modified method of pivoting the handle.

In carrying out my invention I employ a plate A, which is rigidly fastened to the side of the coflin or casket by screws or bolts. The handle B is pivotally connected to this plate, said handle being preferably in the form of a T, the head thereof being arranged vertically and pivoted between the sockets C, attached to the plate A, adjacent to the upper and lower ends thereof. In Fig. 3 I have shown these sockets as separate from the base plate and attached thereto by bolts or rivets, both constructions being shown in Fig. 3. In Fig. 5, however, I have shown these sockets as integral with the base-plate,said plate hav ing an opening A therein sufficiently large to permit the head of the handle to pass therethrough and enter the integral sockets. The head of the handle may be solid or hollow, as preferred; but the body of the handle is tubular in construction for the purpose of receiving the extension member D, the inner end of said extension member having a head D, and a ferrule B is screwed upon the end of the body of the handle to prevent the withdrawal of the extension member D from the tubular handle-body.

In operation the handle is swung outwardly from the cofiin or casket to a position most convenient for the bearer, and the extension member can be moved in or out, as desired. In case it is necessary to carry the coflin or casket through a narrow doorway or passage the end handles are ,turned close to the sides of the coffin or casket and the extension members pulled out to their full extent, the ends of said extension members projecting beyond the ends of the coffin, as most clearly illustrated in Fig. 1. The coffin can then be easily lifted from the ends, and it will not be necessary for the bearers to remain at the side of the coffin.

It will thus be seen that I provide an exceedingly simple construction of handle for caskets, by means of which the cofiiln can be more easily handled than by means of the coffin-handles now in common use.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a handle for coffins comprisinga baseplate, having sockets attached thereto, the T-shaped handle, the head of which is arranged between the sockets attached to the base-plate, said handle having an extension member sliding therein, substantially as set I o forth.

2. A handle for coftins comprising a baseplate, the sockets attached to the said baseplate, the T-shaped handle,the head of which is arranged vertically and pivoted in the said sockets, the body of the handle being tubular in form and having a ferrule at its outer end, and the extension member slidingin the tubular handle and having a head at its inner end, substantially as and for the purpose described.

FELIX GAUDIN.

Witnesses:

GEORGE F. BARTLEY, RIXFORD J. LINCOLN. 

